A US diplomat in Seoul has shocked a group of visiting Congressional staff members by allegedly making highly insensitive comments about two journalists — Taiwanese-American Laura Ling (凌志美) and Korean-American Euna Lee — now facing serious criminal charges in North Korea.
William Stanton, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in South Korea and a candidate for the next director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), is said to have told the visitors during a briefing that the two young journalists were “stupid” and that their case was “distracting from bigger issues.”
Congressional sources said most of the nine visitors — all in their 20s and on a training trip to Asia — were particularly distressed because both Ling and Lee could be sentenced to long prison terms and there is strong evidence they did nothing wrong.
At least one of the visitors was so upset about Stanton's attitude that he wrote a memorandum to a member of Congress giving full details of the briefing, including Stanton's statements.
The memorandum has become a topic of hot discussion among senior Congressional staff and a copy has been sent to the US State Department. No officials would comment on the situation last night and it is not known if it will lead to a formal inquiry.
While the Taipei Times has not received a copy of the memorandum, a senior Congressional staff member read directly from it over the telephone.
A second source later confirmed that the memorandum was being widely discussed.
Stanton's briefing took place on either April 7 or April 8 — the two journalists were detained on March 17 — and according to the memorandum, he did not appear to be concerned that the young visitors were openly taking notes of what he said.
The visiting young Congressional staffers said that Stanton did not request confidentiality or indicate that he was speaking privately or off the record.
This is the second time that complaints about Stanton's behavior have gone to his superiors at the US State Department.
While Stanton has not been formally appointed, he is believed to be at the top of the short list for AIT director.
As the Taipei Times reported late last month, Stanton would be a controversial choice because of allegations that when he worked at the US embassy in Beijing in the mid-1990s, he was known for his strong support for Chinese policies and impeded internal reports critical of the Chinese regime.
Congressional sources said they feared that he would not look after Taiwan's interests but would be inclined to favor the Chinese side when reporting back to Washington.
The State Department is deeply concerned about the two female journalists, both in their 20s, who were taken into custody by North Korean border guards patrolling the Tumen River along that country's border with China.
Pyongyang officials said in a statement on March 22: “Two Americans were detained on March 17 while illegally intruding into the territory of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] by crossing the DPRK-China border. A competent organ is now investigating the case.”
Ling and Lee work for the San Francisco-based online news outlet Current TV, which was founded by former US vice president Al Gore and tycoon Joel Hyatt.
The two women were in the area to interview refugees who had fled North Korea and were living on the Chinese side of the border.
There is evidence that the North Korean guards crossed the river and grabbed the women on the Chinese side, forcing them into North Korea at gunpoint.
In a statement this week, North Korea said the women would be charged with “hostile acts” and would go on trial at some unspecified time in the future.
This comes amid mounting diplomatic tensions between Pyongyang and the international community, including the US, over its rogue nuclear program.
Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, said in an interview, that the Americans had become another “negotiating chip” for Pyongyang as it embarks on negotiations with Washington and its allies over the nuclear impasse.
There is fear that North Korea might stage a show trial and sentence the two women to as much as ten years in a hard labor prison.
The Ling family emigrated from Taiwan to the US several years ago and now lives in Los Angeles.
Laura Ling's older sister, Lisa Ling, a former co-host of the US TV talk show The View and now a correspondent for National Geographic Channel's Explorer, has refused to comment.
It is understood that the families of both women have been advised by the State Department to keep low profiles and not to talk about the case.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique